#and it's Zuko's way out of hiding in the wilderness

[aboutiroh]

You know how Zuko and Azula were overhearing Ozai asking Azulon for Iroh's birthright and Zuko ran away before he could hear the rest of it? Well, what if didn't but stayed to hear Ozai's punishment and as a result ran away in fear. Basically it would like how Aang reacted when he overheard the monks planning to send him away except that Zuko would be even more scared. Anyway what do you think could happen? Like it would be a dark story of survival, hiding and secrecy for Zuko as he would probably have to stow away on ship to the Earth kingdom and be on the run from the fire nation. Maybe he could meet the gang while there and join them and Azulon might still alive at the time and Ursa and Iroh would probably do everything they can to find Zuko.

All I can think about is a 9 year-old Toph finding 13 year-old Zuko hiding in a cave and the unusual friendship that ensues. 

[passable-talent]

hi! may i request an alta scenario with zuko where the reader (female or non-binary, if that works) is an earth bender who was injured by the fire nation and is found by iroh and zuko in the woods, who helps them heal, and they begin to travel with iroh and zuko to ba sing se and zuko and the reader fall in love? i’m not being super specific so u can have creative freedom to do what u want, i can’t wait to see what you write :) thank you!

cute!!! their adventures through the earth kingdom always entertained me. esp Iroh and his need for tea

Zuko was growing more and more frustrated with his uncle’s complaisance. He just couldn’t understand it- they were royalty! Both he and Iroh had been raised as heirs to the throne of the Fire Lord, so if their current situation bothered Zuko, why didn’t it bother his uncle?

He took up the mask of the blue spirit once again to begin alleviating these troubles. They were getting food, they were regaining some of their luxury. Frequent firebending patrols, especially around villages, made things harder, but that had never stopped Zuko before. He left at night, when Iroh was fast asleep, and was usually back by midnight. Nothing could stop him- not firebending patrols, not walls, nothing.

Except when the ground moved under him and he lost his footing in the middle of the woods. That stopped him. He paused, and tried to get up, but felt the ground roll underneath him again. For a moment he resigned himself to the dirt, watching the dirt floor of the forest roll with the stones underneath as waves, radiating from one spot.

Through the trees, he caught a glimpse of a small, pointed rock structure. He narrowed his eyes and crawled backwards to put distance between himself and it, and went back to the camp he’d left his uncle in.

“Uncle,” he said the next morning, “I think there’s something I want you to see.” Iroh nodded and allowed Zuko to lead him back to the spot in the forest where he’d fallen last night, and as soon as their footsteps approached, the ground began tremoring again. Zuko pointed to the rock structure, which now it was clear to see had been made by an earth bender. It was a tent-like shape, with two diagonal roof pieces and triangular sides sealed up, all with stone.

There were scorch marks covering the rock, and all the grass around it was scarred with fire.

“What do you think it is?” Zuko asked, and Iroh studied the ground a bit more before leveling his gaze toward the stones.

“I think it’s a very scared earth bender.”

“Hello in there!” He called, and the tremors in the earth stopped. “My name is Mushi, I’m a refugee from the war heading to Ba Sing Se with my nephew. Do you need any help?” For a moment only silence answered him, until one of the triangular sides of the rock tent slid back into the earth.

Inside the tent you were buried up to your neck in dirt, using the cool soil to soothe your burns. You’d received some fierce ones on your shoulder and ribcage after you dared fight back against a firebending patrol, and when you tried to escape the battle, they’d cornered you. Your tent had been an effort to escape the skirmish by waiting it out, and it had worked, after a while. But for hours you merely sat inside your stone tent while they blasted it with flames, heating it up and nearly cooking you, if it hadnt been for the cool soil you submerged yourself in. At the very least, it made your burns much worse. At the worst, you scorched your leg when the flesh brushed too close to the heated rock.

“Are there any firebenders around?” You asked, voice quiet, and not quite timid. Zuko and Iroh shared a look for a brief moment.

“No,” Iroh answered. “Can I come closer?” You nodded and took your arm over your chest, trying to keep any of your body from touching the burns that were all too warm. You sat up slowly from the soil, revealing burnt and tattered clothes barely covering your three major burns. Iroh’s eyes widened and he stepped closer.

“You need help for those burns,” Iroh said, “we’ve got a camp we can take you back to, and help. Can you stand?”

“No,” you said, “it’ll hurt too much.” Iroh looked over his shoulder at Zuko, who was standing in shock, looking at you.

He’d been burnt, and it had left a scar. But at least it was only the one- you’d been treated so cruelly, and if all of your burns scarred, it would cover near a third of your body. He couldn’t stop the adrenaline coursing through him. It would’ve been so painful, and he couldn’t comprehend who would’ve been so cruel enough to do to you what had been done.

“Can you carry them?” Iroh asked Zuko, and he swallowed hard to break himself from his stare. He nodded slightly, hesitantly, and Iroh looked back to you.

“Just take down your shelter, and we’ll help you.” You lifted your right arm, the one whose shoulder hadn’t been burnt, and used it for a quick motion that sent the stone back into the ground. Zuko walked closer, and was about to kneel down, but paused.

If he picked you up on your left side, it would press your burnt shoulder and ribs into him. But if he did so on your left, it was your leg burn that would get too warm.

“Which side do you want me to lift you on?” He asked, and you took a moment to consider.

“Left,” you said, and he nodded. It was somber, as he lifted you up underneath your knees and shoulders. Upon Iroh’s instruction your threaded your fingers together behind Zuko’s neck, and tried to keep your leg extended so that it wouldn’t brush against Zuko’s clothes.

“As I said, I’m Mushi,” Iroh said, trying to make conversation through your light, subconscious whimpering. “My nephew is Lee. What’s your name?” You gave him a small smile, to show that you appreciated his kindness, even as it was tinged by your pain. You couldn’t help it- it had been days of boiling, sweltering flesh that you couldn’t get a reprieve from.

“Y/N,” you told him, and his bright smile answered you.

“What a lovely name.”

Iroh found a plant or two in the wilderness that helped with the burn, and slowly you began to heal. You were kept awake, though, sometimes, and watched as Lee left with nothing and came back with something. You knew something fishy was going on, but you didn’t push it, because you didn’t feel it was your place.

“Are you awake, Y/N?” Zuko asked one night when he returned. You grunted and affirmation and he sat down in front of where you were laying.

“I got this for you,” he said, and handed you a small tin. When you opened it, you found within it an artisan burn suave, made in the nearby earth kingdom village by one or two of the wives of soldiers.

“Thank you,” you said, giving him a smile in the dwindling firelight. He was a tough nut to crack, but you knew he cared for you- he showed his love through listening, and gifting. You noticed it first when he gave his uncle a teapot, and this gift to you only confirmed your suspicion.

Time went on, and they packed up camp to move closer to Ba Sing Se. You came with, holding tight to Zuko’s waist so that there was enough room for the three of you on the ostrich horse. You felt bad for the poor thing, carrying so much weight, but you were in pain and couldn’t walk for long periods of time. Even if you could, you likely wouldn’t have passed up and oppurtunity to hug Lee around the waist for hours while you travelled.

You knew that Mushi had figured you out- there was no way he hadn’t. You weren’t exactly very subtle as you tried to grab Lee’s attention with your laugh or a joke or an earthbending trick. He began doing his part to nudge Lee toward you, which you were appreciative of, especially since it worked.

Or so you thought.

Zuko had scooped you up one evening, when Iroh was already asleep. He hugged you tightly before setting you back down onto your feet, leaving you confused.

“What is it?” You asked, and he shook his head, brooding as always.

“Let me sleep beside you tonight?” He asked, and you were quick to accept, even if you were confused. You fell asleep that night with his arms wrapped around your waist and his nose pressed to the back of your head.

When you blinked your eyes open, you caught a glimpse of the ostrich horse riding away, Lee on its back.

“Mushi? What’s going on?” You asked, sitting up slowly.

“Lee’s got to find his own way. Come, help me pack. We’re going to move to the next village.”

Your alliance was to Mushi, but you did miss Lee. You wondered what he had been thinking that night, when he chose to lay with you before he left. The two of you had barely talked about romance or anything of the like, but he’d done this- how much had it meant to him?

“My nephew is a complicated man,” Mushi said, walking beside you. “Sometimes, his actions are quite peculiar. But he will find his destiny. And somehow, I believe it will lead him back to us.” You looked sideways at Mushi, and smiled.

“You think so?” He nod was all the affirmation you needed.

And he was right- Lee did come back. He came back to reveal himself as brother to the Fire Princess, which made him... the prince of the Fire Nation?

Now the whole ‘running from the fire nation at all costs’ thing made sense.

You didn’t really mind. You offered unconditional forgiveness to the prince, and showed the same medicinal care to Iroh’s wounds that he had once shown to yours.

Zuko was having a hard time, but you were fascinated in watching his training en route to Ba Sing Se. Just as Iroh wanted, the two of you learned from each other, and soon the style of earthbending you practiced looked similar in some aspects to firebending. He, through training with you, became more rooted, and his balance improved further.

But training aside, the two of you started talking. You sat under the stars and began to be honest with each other, now that he had nothing to hide. You shared what had happened to you in that forest for the first time, and he shared the story behind his scar.

Sleeping side by side became as common a practice as eating breakfast.

Iroh couldn’t have been happier, especially as you seemed to bring Zuko out of his shell. He smiled a slight bit more, and laughed a little easier. Even when the three of you made it to Ba Sing Se, Iroh could feel the difference in his nephew’s attitude.

You hated firebenders- they’d left you with course, scarred skin on the outside of your left calf, with dark scars under the skin of your shoulder and ribcage. You hated firebenders- all but two. One, who took you in, and the other, who you loved deeply.

Because someone who’d felt scar tissue for years wouldn’t hesitate to touch it when you wanted him to.

-🦌 Roe

[crashingmeteorz]

rich kid runaways (ft. yuexzukoxtoph friendship)

for my 100 Followers Celebration - credit to @aroacebitchboi for this amazing idea!

zuko faces his father in the agni kai, and when he is told what he must do in order to be welcome in his homeland again, he just says “fuck this” and runs away.

he’s not sure where he’s gonna go, just that he has to get out, and fast, because his dad’s gonna kill him. like. for real. so he stows away on a fire navy ship headed Literally Anywhere Else (and maybe the soldiers don’t care! because he’s 13 and hurting children is a disgrace! maybe they sneak him food and blankets idk!)

yue, meanwhile, in the north pole, has just been told she is going to enter an arranged marriage for the good of her people when she turns 16. respectfully, she asks her father what exactly this marriage will do, politically speaking. the north isn’t at war with itself, in fact they’re more united than ever. maybe if it were a southern water tribe boy, sure, but no, it’s going to be a northern boy.

her father just tells her it’s imperative to the stability of the tribe that they uphold tradition. yue, realizing this is bullshit, even at the tender age of 13, says “fuck this”, and runs away.

she is all but screwed without waterbending or any practical survival knowledge - except, she’s been chosen by the moon spirit. when she steals a boat and heads south, the moon takes pity on its ward and keeps her safe, at least on her waterbound journey. once she lands on the northern shores of the earth kingdom, yue depends on the kindness of strangers to survive.

zuko, meanwhile, is angry and mistrustful and afraid when he ends up on the western shores of the earth kingdom, and he depends entirely on his determination to survive. he learns to live off the land the hard way, and avoids major cities and towns for fear of being found out as a firebender. of course, if he’s ever spotted, he’s regarded with pity and empathy because of the festering burn on his face, but zuko doesn’t realize that.

yue never stays in one place too long, bouncing from family to family and learning more skills in a few months than she was ever taught in her whole life up north. she cooks and cleans and sews, yes, but she also farms and skins hunted animals and does house repairs. she is happily taken into homes because of her ability to heal - though never a waterbender, yue still learned basic healing with the other northern women, and can manage even bad wounds all on her own.

afraid she’ll be recognized by her vibrant hair, however, yue continues her journey south, considering running to the south pole for sanctuary. she wonders how their women are treated. zuko, meanwhile, lives alone in the wilderness most of the time, and moves very slowly up the west coast.

they’re 14 when their paths cross. three fire nation soldiers harass yue while she’s journeying along a rural road, asking her for a made-up toll. usually trading in work, yue has no money to speak of. the soldiers threaten violence, and, though he is afraid of being caught by his countrymen, zuko was never one to let bullies have power over the innocent.

he emerges from the forest, swords in hand, attacking the soldiers. at first it seems like he has the upper hand - and then he stumbles, and the soldiers laugh and pull him up to beat him. zuko panics and relies on instinct - firebending at the soldiers and burning them badly. they run away yelling, and zuko panics, certain that he’ll be caught out. he goes to run, but yue stops him.

“you’re hurt,” she says, pointing to where he’d been cut by the soldiers’ swords. “please, let me help you. it’s the least i can do.”

“you’re not scared of me?” zuko asks in confusion, looking around wildly, afraid his father will pop out of the trees and strike him down.

“you saved me,” yue says, just as confused, because between the rescue and the obvious burn mark, she doesn’t really think this boy would have any reason to hurt her. also he’s kinda shrimpy, and yue, who has built up some strength through hard work, is pretty sure she could take him. “come on, i have some herbs. is there clean water nearby?”

shocked that anyone in the earth kingdom wouldn’t call for zuko’s arrest on the spot, zuko leads yue to a stream in the forest. yue silently patches his wounds, and then eventually asks if she can get a look at his eye. apart from the initial work of the fire nation healers, zuko hadn’t really done much to treat his eye, and it’s so badly crusted he can barely see out of it. when yue reaches for him, he jerks away.

“i don’t need your help!” he snaps, standing and shaking himself off. “if it weren’t for you, i wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.”

“excuse me.” says yue, standing as well, because who is he to talk to her that way? “i didn’t ask you for help, you chose to do that. and you’re mad at those soldiers, not me, so why don’t you try being a little nicer?”

they stare at each other furiously for a moment. then yue sighs and says “i think i can help you with your eye, so that you can see. let me do that and i’ll leave you alone.”

it’s painful, and a very slow process, but with water warmed by zuko’s bending (”just heat up the water.” “someone could see!” “we’re in the middle of a literal forest! who’s spying! the frogs???”) and a few medicinal herbs, yue manages to clear away most of the crust and dead skin over zuko’s eye. when he finally opens it again, he’s shocked to find that he can see.

“well, i won’t bother you anymore,” yue says huffily, moving to leave the forest. as she does, she realizes she doesn’t know where the heck she is. zuko’s still marveling at how different the world looks with two eyes.

“umm, which way is out?” yue asks him. zuko snaps back to reality and says “oh, um. i’ll show you.” because he is, admittedly, grateful.

of course, when they try to leave the forest, they run into bandits and barely escape. then yue reccomends they take a country road, and zuko reluctantly agrees, except they run into more bandits. after the fourth round of bandits in two weeks, they’re convinced they’ve been cursed with bad luck.

“can we just go to a town or a city?” yue asks, panting from their desperate escape. “we’re not having much luck living in the wild.”

“i was fine until you showed up!” zuko retorts, panting as well. “fine! then i’ll leave!” yue yells back.

“wait,” zuko says, and yue turns, tapping her foot impatiently. “i’m sorry,” zuko says, to yue’s shock, because if her few weeks with this kid who calls himself lee has taught her anything, it’s that he does not apologize. “i don’t really...understand, um, local people and-“

“let me do the talking,” yue says, gentle as always, reaching for zuko’s arm. he smiles at her, a real, happy smile, and they make their way to the nearest earth kingdom town.

after that, yue and zuko are inseparable. they argue a lot, naturally, but they become good friends, too. yue says she always wanted a sibling, zuko says he always wanted a different sibling, so it’s nice, to have each other. without going into too much detail, they bond over their shared experiences of pre-determined destinies and overbearing parental figures (“my father said i have to get married for the good of the people! what does that even mean?” “tell me about it, my father got mad that i talked out of turn, so he tried to kill me.” “...he what?” “hahaha just kidding that’s not a normal thing that happens.”) no matter how scary it gets, they agree, the earth kingdom makes them feel freer than they ever have before.

does the food they cook suck because they’ve never had to cook in their lives? yes. do they sometimes put all four feet in their mouths because of how they speak to the poor people of the earth kingdom? yes. have they ticked off a lot of fellow teenagers for acting bratty? yes. (“what, so, you don’t have palaces around here?” yue asks. “yeah, where are the royal gardens?” zuko asks. “leave before we rock your shit.” says Every Teenager They Meet.) but at the end of the day, they’re happy.

at 15 they reach a city called gaoling. by now they can both do enough odd jobs that they always have some pocket money on them, although yue still struggles to behave in a way that isn’t dainty and delicate, and zuko still struggles with basic social skills.

they’re getting ready to move along, when they’re stopped by a girl. she’s young, about 11, and entirely blind. she’s being chased by a loud crowd, who seem to be just around the corner.

“please!” the girl says. “help hide me! they’re after me! i think they’re going to kidnap me!” yue and zuko, who are the captains of the child-protection-squad, immediately move to protect the girl.

“this way!” zuko says, and the three of them run down narrow streets and alleyways, in and around shops, until they’re stopped at the city gate by the mob going after the girl.

“alright, kid,” the leader, a tall, buff man with long greasy hair says. “you’ve stolen from us for the last time.”

“how many time do i have to tell you?” the girl bellows, much different than her sweet and innocent pleas from before. “i won fair and square! you’re just mad because you got your butt kicked by a little girl!”

before zuko and yue can even react, the girl pummels the mob of men with an avalanche of rocks, and then launches the earth they’re standing on into the air, landing them far outside of the city limits in a dizzying display.

“woo! that was awesome!” the girl says gleefully pumping her arms. zuko and yue are both trying to wrap their heads around what just happened. “thanks for the help. not that i needed it, i just didn’t want my parents’ guards to see me bending...i wasn’t really planning on running away, but, i mean, i doubt they’ll even notice i’m gone-”

“just a second,” yue says, collecting herself. zuko’s jaw is still hanging open. “who are you?”

the girl grins smugly. “name’s toph. who are you?”

i cannot fully express how much i love this idea. top-notch. god-tier. thank you again!

[volkswagonblues]

prologue to my zukka biopunk role-reversal AU

note: It’s technically a sequel to Through the Ice Darkly, but you don’t need to read it for this snippet. All that’s required to know is that it’s set in a world where the Northern Water Tribe attacked instead of the Fire Nation. Instead of ATLA’s steampunk world, the NWT and SWT developed biopunk technologies instead. Zuko, growing up in a conquered nation, is still obsessed with the Avatar. Sokka is still the son of Hakoda, chief of the SWT, though because his society isn’t ravaged by war, he has more time for his scientific interests. 

Though of course, in ATLA-verse, science and spirituality are two sides of the same coin...

They were great adapters, Sokka’s people. Clever and resourceful, they were hunters and dreamers and storytellers. Like ice, they knew how to move and reform with the seasons.

They called themselves the Southern Water Tribe, not because some among them had the power to bend water, but because they thought of themselves as water. They understood and respected the great flexibility of the world.

prologue - when Sokka meets Koh the Face Stealer - snippet under cut

The summer that Sokka was ten, Bato brought him to a hunting camp situated at the mouth of a wide bay, about two days’ journey away from Sokka’s normal home in the capital city. Sokka’s grandmother was there, along with a dozen or so families. They were there to hunt the enormous shoveller deer whose herds migrated to find food in the warmer months. Where the deer went, humans followed. And that summer, Sokka was one of them. 

The summer that Sokka was ten, Bato brought him to a hunting camp situated at the mouth of a wide bay, about two days’ journey away from Sokka’s normal home in the capital city. Sokka’s grandmother was there, along with a dozen or so families. They were there to hunt the enormous shoveller deer whose herds migrated to find food in the warmer months. Where the deer went, humans followed. And that summer, Sokka was one of them. 

He didn’t want to leave home, but that was what the adults had decided. It seemed a strange and mysterious decision to Sokka, but at ten, most things seemed strange and mysterious to him. Especially Sokka’s own dad. Sokka would have protested, but in the end he loved his dad too much to say anything that could make him sad. There was enough sadness going around already that summer.So when Bato came to take him away to join Gran-Gran and  the rest of the people in the Old Village, Sokka went quietly, like the good son he wanted to be.

They called it the Old Village, but in truth the Old Village wasn’t old or a village at all. The people of the Old Village didn’t stay in one place but moved around with the seasons. In winter they built houses out of snow and ice. In spring they traveled on long sleds made of wood boards that were lashed together, and when the temperature warmed they got off their sleds and moved into sod houses instead, or pitched skin-tents to follow animals for hunting. 

Once upon a time they would have built or sewed everything by hand or with waterbending. For instance, waterbenders would make the runners for their sleds out of ice, but if there were no waterbenders that generation, people put frozen moss or even frozen fish on the bottom instead, to make sure the sleds skimmed lightly over the terrain nonetheless. This was how it used to be done, but since then even people of the Old Village accepted a few modern conveniences, like sugar and steel Earth Kingdom knives and warm underclothes spun out of air bison wool, which kept out the cold antarctic air like nothing else.

They were great adapters, Sokka’s people. Clever and resourceful, they were hunters and dreamers and storytellers. Like ice, they knew how to move and reform with the seasons. 

They called themselves the Southern Water Tribe, not because some among them had the power to bend water, but because they thought of themselves as water. They understood and respected the great flexibility of the world.

Part of that flexibility meant that, a century or more ago, when some of them started building a great city out of snow and ice closer to the Pole, some of their friends and clansmen adapted. They moved within its great walls and started new lives there, trading and studying and putting their cleverness and resourcefulness to use inventing new contraptions and new ideas – new animals as well. Some of their friends and family did not do this, and they chose to live the way their people had always lived, adapting themselves to only the great machinery of nature. What was good for their ancestors was good enough for them. They shunned a city life for something bigger and wilder and free. 

Neither side lived a better life than the other. They were just different, that’s all. 

Sokka’s grandmother liked her life outside the cities; her son-in-law – Sokka’s dad – was content inside one. He was a very important man, and he was responsible for a lot of people, so he and his wife brought up their children inside the capital, where he was busy trying to carve out a future for all of his people. He was very concerned about their future, and because all things were connected that meant he was also concerned about his past. He often sent his children to visit his mother-in-law. He wanted them to sleep in sod houses and learn to cut deer hides and listen to old stories, so they wouldn’t forget the old ways. Where they came from. 

When Sokka becomes a young man, the past will become an interesting topic for him too.  But the summer that he was ten, he wasn’t thinking about any of this. He was too busy doing two things: the first was avoiding the other boys, and the second was watching the otter-penguins.

There was a colony of them a mile away from the hunting camp. They were all the company Sokka required that summer.

A mile’s walk there and a mile back wasn’t much distance for a ten-year-old boy with a lot of energy, and a few weeks after he and Bato arrived there, Sokka began sneaking away every morning to visit the rocky beach where the rookery gathered. No one accompanied him, and he found that he liked it that away. The otter-penguins were amazingly social creatures with one another, and they accepted their strange featherless visitor with a cool indifference. Sokka had arrived just before their eggs were ready to hatch, and the penguins were more concerned about diving for food than about him. 

So he spent those weeks observing them, sometimes mimicking their waddling walk for his own amusement, sometimes working on projects that he designed for himself. He built a little roofless house right by the rookery, and he built it by piling up driftwood and pebbles he found on the beach. Some days he sat there for hours, just watching the flock. He learned a lot about them very quickly. For instance, the male otter-penguins had excellent balance. Even an injured male could hold a round egg against his stomach, gracefully tumble over small precipices and trip across rocky slopes – and never drop it. And after the eggs hatched, the female otter-penguins took care of the pups in the water and held them close by wrapping them with strands of seaweed. And they each had their own names, just like humans did. The mothers and father made distinct noises to call their own pups back to them when it was time for feeding.

They did all of this, and Sokka watched. He listened. He observed.

At ten, Sokka should be doing chores around the camp: fetching and carrying, sharpening knives and harpoons, scraping the hair off hides, helping to repair and maintain the skin-canoes – that sort of thing. But he was no good at doing any of that. He was ten and going through that unfortunate phase where none of his limbs were the right length, and everything he did that summer he seemed to do wrong. He kept dropping knives and ripping up fishing nets by accident. The worse part was that the other boys didn’t even laugh at him; they gave him looks of pity instead.

Before long, he gave up on the chores and the camp altogether. He avoided the other boys, and after a while they avoided him right back, which suited Sokka fine. He’d found something more interesting to think about anyways. 

That summer he was ten was a time of sunlight, rocks, penguin calls, and the rushing tides. It was the first and last time he ever applied himself to anything with such purity of purpose. He was acquiring knowledge the same way that the otter-penguins dived for fish or hatched their eggs: instinctively, without questioning why.

The little otter-penguins were cute, with their soft fuzzy heads and their wobbling walk. Sokka liked them, and though he winced when some of them were eaten by the leopard seals who prowled the dark, frigid sea, he never interfered. The fish were food to the otter-penguins, just as they were food to the seals, just as the seals might one day be food for Sokka himself. His father called it the miraculous interchange that made the universe work, and Sokka believed him. But still, he felt sad. The poor parents that had worked so hard through the winter were left with nothing to show for it. It seemed unfair..

It was sad, but Sokka could bear it. He did bear it, until one day, when Sokka himself was busy repairing one wall of his driftwood house – the colony started yipping and fussing like nothing he’d ever heard before. 

Sokka ran to see what was the matter, expecting a seal or maybe even a particularly bold black whale. But when he got to the source of the commotion he nearly stumbled from the shock. 

One of the penguins was missing a face.

There were no smears of blood, no telltale signs of shredded feathers. This was no ordinary injury from a preying seal. Somehow, the dark eyes and the nubby beak was gone. There was nothing but a smooth patch of feather, like someone had wiped their sleeve across a patch of snow. It was a female penguin, and she was waddling sightlessly, trying to find its way back to its hungry pups.

Sokka looked around him wildly; the mother had left her two pups a bit farther up, on a great flat rock shelf. The pups whined, but the rest of the otter-penguins were calming down now,  returning to their placid business, diving and feeding and caring for their own young. He looked back at the faceless penguin, still waddling around in circles, unable to sense the hungry cries of her own children.  

What happened? Sokka had never seen anything like this before, but one thing was clear: the mother was ill, and she would not get better. He examined the pups: without a mother to teach them how to swim and feed, they would both die before the season was over. 

The world was very cruel to children without mothers.

“No!” Sokka screamed out loud. “No, no, no!”

All his grief and loneliness surged up at once from a small dark space inside his heart. All the sadness he’d been carrying exploded through him, and it was such an enormous feeling that, had Sokka been a waterbender, the tides next to him would have crested and crashed with powerful roars of foam.

But he wasn’t a bender, and something else that was stranger and wilder happened instead. The world shimmered; the air itself cracked down the middle, and everything that Sokka had been so calmly and so happily observing a moment ago became strange. 

Mist rolled by, even though it was a sunny day. Flying, glowing creatures zoomed around Sokka, and everything became brighter and richer in colour, even through the mist. Sokka stopped screaming, fascinated by the changes in the landscape. He wanted to chase one the flying creatures, but then something scuttled by him and left a chill running down his spine.

It was a massive being, many-legged like an insect, coal-black and plated with hard shells. It looked like a bug but it had the head of a human woman – a disconcertingly pretty one with sad grey eyes. 

“Hello there,” said the bug-thing in a rasp. Its face flickered, changed in rapid succession from the young woman to an old man to some sort of animal Sokka had never seen before.

Sokka stumbled backwards, fell, and cried out again when his palms scraped against the rocks. The thing changed its faces like a dancer putting on masks for a ceremony, except it when a dancer took off their mask at the end of the ceremony, the whale or seabird went away and the dancer became human again. 

Whatever this creature was, it wasn’t human.

It’s been a long time since I came this south, said the creature. But the Avatar has a powerful pull on all of us.

Sokka screamed. He tried to get up and he tried to run, but he couldn’t. One sharp pincer edged towards him. It came closer, closer–

And then a distant mountain peak, one that Sokka had seen a million times before, leaned down. It crossed the hundreds of miles between them like it was a single step, and the mountain bent its great heft over the creature, all its crag and weight bearing down with unbearable pressure, and then the mountain too spoke:

Not yet, Koh. We still need him. 

The creature hissed, about to object, but then the ocean, all salt and tumbling motion, also rose up and added its presence to the mountain’s. 

Leave him, said the ocean, and this command was echoed by the unseen moon and the distant aurora and the ancient rock under their feet.

“First it was the moon girl, now it’s this boy,” Koh said. “Mark my words: we’re intervening too much in human affairs, and you all know it.”

Koh gave one last look at Sokka, and then disappeared, scuttling back into the mists. Sokka was too terrified to speak, too terrified to move. All the spirits were focusing their attention on him now. He knew this instinctively,  the same way that he knew up from down, light from dark, the smell of burning deer fat from seal. 

The mountain shifted; the enormous and distant rock became a heavy weight hovering over Sokka's chest. It prodded him there, like a finger.

Hello, Sokka, said the mountain, and the greeting was echoed a hundred times. A million.

Hello Sokka. Hello. Hello. Hello.

Sokka didn’t remember running the distance back to the camp, but he must have, because the next lucid thing he remembered was throwing his arms around Bato, not caring that he was leaving blood and dirt over Bato’s clothes. 

“What’s wrong?” asked Bato, his brows creased with concern. “Sokka, what happened?”

Sokka shook his head. He was born and raised a city kid; he would always be one at heart. He could not describe how terrifying it was to discover that, the whole time he was looking at the world, the world was looking back. 

“Bato, please,” he sobbed. “Please. I want my mother. Where is she? Where’s Mom?” 

Bato patted his head and held him close. “Oh, Sokka,” he said – and nothing else.

Sokka’s grandmother was nearby too, running over from some task with her grisly knife still in hand. She clucked her tongue; wiped the blade off with a brisk motion. “Tell the boy to stop wailing and get him inside somewhere, I’ll bring him something to eat. Something warm will snap him out of it.”

Sokka raised his head from where it was buried in the material of Bato’s sealskin parka; he shook it. He wanted to stop too, but his body had other ideas. Water was running down his face: a mix of tears and snot, blood from where he had bitten his own tongue. The taste of it all was frightful, all coppery and salty, slick from the mucus building up in the back of his throat, which was too wet and too dry all at once. 

“Dad?” It was someone else who came to see what was going on: Ayaliq, Bato’s own daughter. She trotted over and cuddled Sokka from his side, wrapping her little arms around him and Bato at the same time. “Don’t be upset,” she said. “It’s okay, Sokka.”

One of Bato’s hands cupped the back of Sokka’s head, a warm protective weight. “Leave him be,” he said to Sokka’s grandmother. “This is the first time he’s cried since the day itself. It’s only been three months.”

“You think I don’t remember how long ago my only child died?” 

Sokka let out another howl. His vision was swimming; the force of his gasps made him light-headed. Gran-Gran gave him a sharp tap on the back of his head. The sudden jolt of pain stunned him, but it also grounded him back in reality. 

“You shouldn’t have brought him here alone,” Gran-Gran said in the silence. “He needs his sister and his father with him.”

“What could I do, Kanna? The Northern Water Tribe is here making threats again; Hakoda wouldn’t leave the capital. Katara wouldn’t leave her father, not even for her brother. And I had to take him here, Kanna – at least out here Sokka’s taking an interest in something. You didn’t see him in those first few days. We could barely get him to get out of bed. He grieves hard for someone so young.”

Gran-Gran sighed. “I grieve for my daughter too,” she said. “Every day. Every minute. But death is a part of life. My grandson will learn this in time.”

Sokka wanted to say that he had already learned plenty, but instead he spat weakly on the ground and watched the string of drool stretch, then snap in mid-air. It was disgusting. He felt disgusting. He had also wet his pants, he realized, and he was so embarrassed to be like a little kid again in front of Ayaliq, that he shoved his face back into Bato’s parka. Ayaliq was a year younger than him, but she had probably never wetted her pants.

“Be kind to your cousin, Ayaliq,” Bato was saying. “And give him some time, Kanna. Let him cry for now. Just let him cry. He needs it.”

--------

Later, as a young man, when Sokka’s sister would breathlessly tell him about meeting the Avatar, the bridge between their world and the Spirit World, Sokka would scowl. He would turn away with his heart pounding.

“I prefer things that exist in the real world,” he would say, and it would come out much harsher than he’d meant it to. Katara would take it as a sign that he was judging her somehow, that he thought she was a silly girl for believing in the extraordinary. She would react badly to Sokka’s disapproval of the Avatar.

And Sokka did disapprove, though not for those reasons. He disapproved because he was afraid.

He wasn’t good at explaining it, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that the world of spirits was not necessarily friendly towards the human one. That his brief glimpse – hallucination? – of the Spirit World told him that it was brisk and insensate, that it was filled with impossible angles and geometric paradoxes. That its inhabitants were ancient and careless beings whose intelligence was beyond human, and obeyed rules set not by morality but by order and chaos. Those beings were sometimes benign, sometimes malicious, always incomprehensible. Sokka wasn’t sure he wanted to meet a person who bridged that world to theirs. 

He wasn’t like Katara, always with her eye fixed on some higher purpose. The everyday world with its speechless mountains and rolling seas, its everyday interchange of energies and motion: this was enough for him. Sokka didn’t need to meet Tui and La to appreciate the wonder of the tides and the moon. What spirits that existed in this world already were vast and incomprehensible enough. 

Sokka would prefer to keep the two worlds un-bridged.

He couldn’t explain this to Katara, and they would grow even further apart because of this. Piercing through to the Spirit World would be easier than crossing the chasm between them. It was as if Kya’s death had split some fundamental building block of the world as Sokka had known it: On one side, Sokka went with Bato; on the other, Katara stayed with their father. 

On one side, the radiance of discovery. On the other, the terror of what he might find. And then, much later, the horror of what Sokka’s discoveries would be used for.

By the Avatar.

[cottage-babe]

Burning Scars part VII

Previous | Chapter 7 | Next

Masterlist

not me studying ATLA maps when i should be studying for school oml

Summary: Y/n, a werewolf from a hidden village, comes across Zuko and Iroh after being exiled. How has fate intertwined the wolf into the avatar’s destiny? 

MENTIONS OF BLOOD

*****this chapter takes place at Season 2 Episode 12*****

___

Oh boy... this is so rough.

It was quite crazy how everything could tumble down hill so quickly. 

After the teen’s fight at the Misty Palms Oasis, Y/n and Zuko refused to talk to one another. It was a constant, petty competition between them; waiting to see who would crack first. It was astonishing how Iroh managed to keep himself collected when the two children he looked over were in a silent battle. 

Iroh’s club had (thankfully) fetched the trio’s Ostrich-Horses from the stables and collected all of their things. After saying their thanks to the White Lotus, they hopped onto the saddles of their rides and set off toward their next town; Ba Sing Se. 

Y/n refused to share seats with Zuko as she had previously and tried to convince Iroh to see her point of view. The uncle had shut-down her idea at first, but when noticing her ‘persistence,’ he agreed and let her ride on the back of his saddle. ‘Persistence,’ of course, being her threats of walking beside them and slowing down their estimated week-long trip. Ahh, the power of time. 

They had wanted to go straight through the desert to save the days that it would take them to go around it, but the citizens of the desert advised against it. The Wi Shong Desert was impossible to cross. It would be unbearably hot, their water would disappear quickly, and it was easy to get lost when your surrounded by identical mounds of sand. Not wanting to take a chance, the trio followed the directions and traveled the edge of the taunting desert. 

This new path was preferred by Y/n, as she didn’t have the appropriate coverings for the heat like the two men did. They were returning to the same terrain that they were in before, the foresty-rocky one. The werewolf was definitely more comfortable with this change. 

The days passed slowly. 

Iroh and Y/n talked a bit, but not as much as they had before. Of course, it wasn’t like they were mad at each other or anything, it was just that the tension between the two teens were still present and it made things... awkward. The werewolf didn’t want Zuko to hear her talk about things because it might give him the impression that she grew comfortable with him again when she 100% was not. Zuko never talked much, but now there was an ever-present scowl embedded on his face. It wasn’t a pretty sight. 

When night came, the tension was even worse. They would sit, eat, drink, all in silence. Iroh, being the wonderful person that he was, tried to chisel at the quiet, but either neither would answer or one would release a snarky comment. 

After the first couple of days, Y/n’s anger and annoyance had eased slightly. She wasn’t even mad at him anymore for what he had done, the only thing that continued to irk her was the fact that he never apologized. He never admitted that he was wrong or that he understood her reaction. Zuko just continued on with the trip acting like she was in the wrong. 

There was one night in particular that set her off once again. 

They were unpacking the food that they had; the supply was dwindling. Of course, the trio had enough to last them the entire trip, but the sight of their food becoming so minimal was affecting their morals. At least, it was for Zuko. 

The boy made it his very job to complain about their supply almost every second. Iroh and Y/n learned to tune out his whines and pouts, but then he said something that triggered her anger. 

The werewolf couldn’t even fully remember the words that he said, but the idea still lingered in her mind.

“Maybe we should quit wasting our food on dead-weight like Y/n.”

She honestly could’ve just let it go like she had done with everything else he had said. Perhaps it was the traveling that lowered her tolerance, but those words set her off the edge. 

Y/n had stood up from her seated position around the campfire and glared at Zuko. Then, she simply turned around and left. No words exited her mouth, no reassurance that she was coming back, absolutely nothing. Iroh had jumped up from his seat and asked her where she was going, but he didn’t receive an answer. Just the silent crunching of her feet on the dirt path and her silhouette disappearing into the trees.

It wasn’t until twenty minutes later that the girl returned.

Her appearance was shaggy; her clothes were obviously put on lazily and her hair was slightly messed up. The one thing that was most prominent, however, was the very dead rabbit resting in her grip. 

Blood was leaking from it into her hands and some of it was smeared on her face. She was still irritated as she skinned and cooked the animal across the fire; her glare piercing through the top of the flames straight into Zuko’s eyes. Y/n shared the meat with Iroh that night and he seemed glad to have some real food for once. 

She felt as though she earned some respect after that night. 

For the rest of the trip, Zuko didn’t complain as much. He didn’t say things that would purposely get on her nerves, he just remained silent. Not one word left him again. 

His silence really helped Y/n get the time she needed to think. She thought about those feeling that she had for him in the flower shop, but she couldn’t see herself as that person anymore; as that love-sick teenager. It’s not who she is, it never was. It must’ve been the vulnerability that Zuko offered her; she fell for the soft side of him, a side that isn’t Zuko. They both had let down their guard and look where it got them; not even on speaking terms. 

It was relieving when they made it to the boarding docks that would bring them to the gates of Ba Sing Se. They were at an underground place, a cave from the looks of it. There were many people formed in lines or waiting with their baggage beside them. All the way across the cove, there was a large wall stretched to each side. Y/n assumed that there was water hiding behind it. 

Before they entered the docks (Full Moon Bay, as Iroh had called it), the trio tied their Ostrich-Horses to some stables and gathered their things. While the boys put on their bags and such, Y/n stood in front of their rides. 

“Thank you,” she whispered and smoothed back both of their feathers. “You’ve done so much for us, I wish we could repay you.”

Their two steeds looked down at her with a look that showed their understanding of her words. But their expressions revealed something else too; like their was something she could do. She honestly didn’t know what it was, not until they began walking away from the stables. 

“So, are we going to be coming back? What’s gonna happen to the Ostrich-horses?” Y/n asked just as her eyes saw the interior of Full Moon Bay. 

Iroh shrugged his shoulders. “They will possibly be handed over to other travelers. We don’t have a use for them anymore; when someone goes to Ba Sing Se, they hardly ever leave.”

Y/n stopped walking as the words hit her. Quickly, she turned around and shouted to the duo about forgetting to get something. It wasn’t a great excuse, but she needed to do one last thing before she started her new life here.

She had talked to Iroh privately before they started on their trip to Ba Sing Se. He told her how Zuko and him were planning to stay there for a long time or at least until everything died down. Iroh gave her permission to leave whenever she wanted, but said that he and Zuko would love it if she stayed with them. Y/n, at the time, almost considered leaving because of the situation with the other teen in the group. She had spent a couple days thinking about it; about the pros and cons, the risks that she would be taking, etc. In the end, she decided that staying in the boy’s company could benefit her, especially if Ba Sing Se was as wonderful as everyone else made it out to be. If anything, she could leave their group when they made it inside the walls; if she really wanted to. 

But she still needed to do this one thing first.

Y/n ran back to the stables and looked for their animals. There were quite a few there, but she quickly found the ones that she had been riding for the last week. They seemed happy to see her and she felt the same toward them; she finally understood what they needed from her. 

The werewolf untied their straps and removed the saddles from their backs. 

Then, she brought them to the edge of the forest, away from traveler’s eyes. Without a word, Y/n let them go out into the wilderness, free of the restricting fabrics that the humans had put on them. They almost didn’t run at first, just staring at her with large eyes, but after a moment they walked into the trees and their silhouettes blended with the shadows. 

Y/n let out a sigh. She felt really good. 

Quickly, she ran back to the entrance of the Bay and met up with Iroh and Zuko. The uncle greeted her while the boy just ignored her presence and continued walking. They followed Iroh to one of the lines and waited, explaining that they needed to get their passports checked first. 

Y/n was pouting the entire time. She wasn’t used to waiting in long human lines; she didn’t see the point of it. Why didn’t they just get more people to look at their documents so everything would go by faster?

Both her travel buddies were silent the entire wait and she was fine with it. Y/n spent her time people-watching; something that she found herself doing quite often. She excused herself by saying that she needed to ‘study the human culture,’ but in reality she just found it interesting. There were so many types of people around; some with large amounts of luggage, big families, even a group of bald people wearing yellow and holding a stick! There were so many interesting characters here.

Finally, they made it to the front of the line. 

A woman checked their passports, then handed them three tickets with a stamp. They each took one of the papers and headed over to the large wall that towered over the people. 

There was a man there that asked for their tickets and directed them toward a very large boat. It marveled Y/n. She had heard stories of these large things that could float on water, but seeing it in person was something else. 

How can this hold a bunch of people?

The werewolf had paused in her spot to think this and Zuko, who was walking behind her, shoved her shoulder as he pushed passed her. 

“Watch it, you’re in the way.”

She huffed and crossed her arms. Iroh placed a hand on her should for comfort before he kept walking to catch up with his nephew. Y/n was getting a little sick of all this. 

They walked across a board and entered the ferry. They were told to stay on the top deck until they landed at the boarders of Ba Sing Se. Y/n trailed behind the boys as they looked for a spot empty enough for them to rest; eventually settling near a railing on the side of the boat. 

A kind lady went around the ship passing bowls of food to each passenger; the trio being included. Before Y/n took a sip, however, she looked over the edge into the the deep blue water. They were very high up.

“We’re going really fast.” She thought aloud. 

Iroh joined her on the railing and looked at the water, ignoring her random words. “Who would have thought after all these years, I'd return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace,” he shut his eyes as he paused. “As a tourist!”

Y/n let out a small laugh at the old man’s silly words. But then, of course, Zuko had to come and ruin it. 

“Look around. We're not tourists, we're refugees.” He said as he move to stand on her other side.

“Lighten up, Zuko.” Y/n replied while her eyes stayed on lake in front of her. Maybe she’d be able to see a fish jump out!

She could feel the boy glaring at the side of her head, but she chose to ignore it, just like she did when he would complain before. She heard Zuko take a sip of his bowl before spitting it out dramatically. “Ugh! I'm sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt. I'm tired of living like this!”

The werewolf rolled her eyes, but set the bowl down on the deck, taking his reaction to the food into consideration. I think I can wait until we make it to the city. 

“Aren't we all?” 

The trio turned around from their positions on the rail and saw three teens, all about the same age as Y/n and Zuko. One stood closer to the front, a boy, about the same height as Zuko, but with shaggier hair. He had a smirk etched across his face and a plant stuck out from between his teeth. 

“My name's Jet,” The boy explained as he walked out from the covers that the Ferry had set up. He extended his hand behind him. “And these are my Freedom Fighters, Smellerbee and Longshot.” 

Behind him, the two teens let out a greeting. Well, the shorter one did, but the tall, mysterious guy just nodded his head. Zuko let out a small "hello" while Y/n waved politely. This was the first time she personally met another set of human teens. 

The first boy, Jet, began to walk up to Zuko as he spoke. "Here's the deal. I hear the captain's eating like a king while the refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?"

Zuko wasn't answering the kid, wasn't even looking at him anymore, so Y/n almost did all of them a favor and declined the boy's advances for her travel buddies, but Iroh spoke before she could. 

"What sort of king is he eating like?" The uncle asked. Y/n rolled her eyes; that's not what she expected him to say. 

"The fat, happy kind." He smirked at Iroh before turning his attention back to Zuko. "Want to help us 'liberate' some food?"

The werewolf tugged on Iroh's sleeve. "I really don't think this is a good idea." 

Trust her, if her instincts were telling them not to, then they really shouldn't. She knew all about stealing food (especially from the humans), but something was off about Jet. She didn't want her group getting mixed up with the "freedom fighters" if they didn't have to. All they had to do was wait until the next morning to buy food from the city. 

Y/n looked at Zuko and met his eyes. She was pleading silently, don't. 

But the boy didn't listen to her. He threw his bowl out into the water and turned toward the group of teens. 

"I'm in." 

Y/n placed her hand on her forehead in exasperation. Of course he would do his own thing. She decided to settle for glaring at Jet's welcoming smile. 

The strange boy seemed to feel her eyes and turned to look at her. 

"Don't worry, princess, we'll bring your boyfriend back in one piece." Jet spoke once Zuko made his way over to the group.

Y/n and Zuko both scoffed at his words. Jet looked between them quickly while his smirk grew. 

"Ohh… I see." The boy took a step toward her. "Why don't you come too? I could use another lookout."

Y/n crossed her arms. Lookout?

Just as she was about to voice her opinion, Zuko stopped Jet's advancements with a stuck-out hand. 

"She's not coming with us." Zuko looked at her sternly. "Stay here and watch my Uncle."

Y/n was about to let out a sarcastic comment, or even something slightly mean to say that he can't control her, but there was something about his eyes that made her rethink it. He seemed… cautious? Maybe he can see how shady these teens really are. 

"Fine, but if you get caught, don't expect us to come and save you." 

With that, she turned on her heel and faced the lake once again, hearing the four receding footsteps as they walked away. 

The werewolf folded her arms and placed her head on them with a sigh. She really shouldn't be worried about Zuko, especially since they weren't on the best terms at the moment, but her heart couldn't help it. They had made it so far and it could all be ruined with this act of rebellion. Not to mention, if he let her go with him, Y/n could protect him if he needs it. Zuko has his bending, but that could only get him so far. She was trained for fighting. 

"You look as though you have a lot on your mind."

She lifted her head and looked to where the voice came from. Iroh was sitting on the floor, his bowl of rotten food resting in his palms while his eyes shined the colors of the setting sun. The girl took the spot next to him and followed his line of sight. 

The sunset was beautiful. The sky was a mixture of pinks and oranges all the way down to the giant ball of fire that glowed. Beams of light shined passed the small clouds that littered the sky, showing the power of the rays of sun. It was so pretty that she wished she could paint it to remember this moment. 

“So much has been happening recently; it’s just a lot to handle.” Y/n whispered.

Iroh nodded his head in agreement. “I can understand that. You’ve gone through a lot at such a young age.” He paused for a moment. “And I’m sorry that my nephew has added on to your stress.”

“It’s not you that I need an apology from, it’s Zuko.” She shook her head dejectedly. “And what is up with him?! One minute he’s all friendly, like he cares, and then the next he’s just so... infuriating.” 

The sun finally made it’s way past the tips of the mountains and fell out of sight. The orange took a deeper tone, but the view still left her awestruck. Iroh placed a hand on the wolf’s shoulder.

“I think there are some things that you need to learn about my nephew,” He began. “Zuko didn’t have many friends when he was a child, he was reserved and only ever talked to his sister and mother. And then after his incident when he was thirteen, he had taught himself to put up barriers, ones that not even I could break. But you must remember; Zuko is a child, just as you are. He may act cold-hearted, but underneath it all, he has a good spirit.”

Thirteen? He’s been out on his father’s mission for at least three years? 

“So, what you’re saying is that him being rude is actually his way of showing he cares? That doesn’t make any sense.”

Iroh laughed a hearty laugh. Y/n joined in slightly, but couldn’t see what was so funny. 

“I suppose that is a good way of putting it.” His laughter died down to a serious tone. “I just want you to know, Y/n, that although this does explain his personality, it does not excuse it. If you are having issues with him, then talk to him and let him know.”

Y/n sighed as the sky finally receded into darkness. Maybe he is right, she’s had plenty of time to think about everything, so the next step would just be to talk. The werewolf decided to point the topic in a different direction. 

“So, Zuko told me about the four nations and what bending was. He thinks I’m part of the Earth Kingdom.” She smiled at the older man. “Do you think I can bend?”

Iroh shrugged his shoulders with the same laugh as before. “Maybe. If you’d like, I can teach you some techniques that I know.”

Y/n’s eyes widened. Wait, I might be able to bend?

“But I thought you could only bend one element? You can do two?”

“No, no, no.” He waved his hand out. “I just studied their techniques and memorized some. I can’t say that I can help you fully, but I can try my best.”

That was honestly good for her. After Zuko had told her last time that it probably wasn’t possible, she had felt dejected. But maybe there’s hope now?

Suddenly, she saw something moving around in the sky. It was hard to focus her eyes in the dark, but the sight of a large animal flying over head caught the duos attention. 

“Uhh, what is that?” Y/n eyes with her eyes squinting. 

It flew off past their boat and into the opposite direction of Ba Sing Se.

Iroh shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve only seen one like that before...” Then he looked at the girl next to him. “Don’t tell Zuko that you saw that. He... is scared of flying animals.” 

She raised an eyebrow at his obvious lie, but promised to not tell the other boy. It was then that a smell hit her.

It smelled so warm and delicious that her mouth almost watered the second it hit her nostrils. She looked around until she saw the source of the aroma. 

Zuko, Jet, and his two freedom fighters were back with two large bags. They were reaching into the sacks and pulling out bowls, passing them to the refugees on the ship.

When they were finished, they made their way back to Iroh and Y/n with their bowls in hand. Zuko had given a bowl to Iroh and completely ignored Y/n, so she had to get her food from Jet. 

“Thank you, Jet.” She said with a smile as the sight of the food made her happy. Maybe the freedom fighters won’t so bad. 

Iroh and Y/n shifted their seating arrangement until they formed a circle with the four other teens. Jet was going to take the seat beside the werewolf, but Zuko beat him to it, claiming that his bag was there, so it’s his seat. 

They began to eat, Y/n almost scarfing down her entire bowl with one bite. She couldn’t deny it, she was hungry. They were surviving off of food that barely filled her, so now that she had the opportunity to eat, she wasn’t going to miss it. 

Y/n was so invested in her bowl of food that she couldn’t even process the conversation going on around her, all she knew was that Smellerbee had stormed off and Longshot had gone after her. All that was left was her two traveling friends and Jet. She decided that now was the time to tune into the banter that was happening.

“From what I heard, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se. I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall.” Jet said as he leaned back into his arms. 

Iroh nodded his head. “It’s a magnificent sight.” 

“So, you’ve been there before?”

Y/n slowly lowered her bowl with wide eyes. Was he going to tell him about his life of a war general?

Instead, Iroh settled for a solemn look on his face. “Once, when I was a... different man.”

Surprisingly, Jet didn’t pry the way she expected him to. “I've done some things in my past that I'm not proud of, but that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se: for a new beginning. A second chance.”

A new beginning? Is that what I need?

It hadn’t hit her until then, but this new life that she strove for, a life away from her pack, away from her shame, was something that she already had. The boys had given her this opportunity the moment they asked her to join their trip. 

Ba Sing Se was this refuge for people who wanted what she had. It was a refuge for Iroh and Zuko, too. Did I really consider leaving them? It made her feel a bit of shame, she can’t just leave when things get tough.

“Hey, Zuko?” Y/n asked as she set her bowl on the ground in front of her. 

The boy just hummed in response, not quite looking at her as he continued to eat. 

“Do you think we could talk? Soon?”

Zuko stopped his chewing and looked at her questioningly. He set down his half eaten bowl and stood up. “Let’s go.”

She followed him to a separate area of the ferry. Most people were around the front of the ship, either eating the remains of the food or sleeping against the hardwood floor. There were some families around them at the back of the ship, but most weren’t paying attention. The duo stopped at the railings at the end of the boat. 

They were silent for a second, Zuko waiting for the girl to say something while Y/n was trying to regain her thoughts. C’mon brain, you can do this. 

“So, I guess I should start off with a ‘sorry’? I shouldn’t have gotten mad at you, especially since what you did was an accident.” She paused to let him talk, but he just continued to stare with a bored look on his face. “Uhh... I’m also sorry for insulting you. I was mad and didn’t think about my words. Everything else I said after that, though, I completely meant. You were a jerk to me.”

The corners of Zuko’s mouth lifted slightly at her words as he soaked them in. She didn’t really have much else to say, she hadn’t done much wrong. Y/n could only hope that the boy understood that. 

He sighed and looked off to the side. “I guess... you not at total fault here.”

Y/n almost scoffed, almost, but held it back. This was what Iroh was talking about; Zuko had walls and this might be the best apology that she’d get out of him for now. She didn’t really know what else to say, so she was happy when he started to speak again.

“I-uh-maybe shouldn’t have gotten mad when you called me out. Should’ve just accepted it and moved on, but-uh-I’m still learning.” 

Ok, this is going way better than I expected.

She half expected him to reject her apology and stomp off angrily, continuing to hate her for the rest of his life. She was glad that it’s going in the opposite direction. 

Y/n couldn’t help the giddiness that she felt rise within her and wrapped her arms around the boy’s stomach. He didn’t hug her back at first, but when he realized that she wouldn’t let go, he awkwardly settled his arms around her shoulders. She could tell that he was slightly uncomfortable with the affection, so she eased herself off of him with a grin on her face.

They began their walk back to the group with much less tension than when they came. 

“You know, Iroh told me that he’d teach me some earthbending to see if I was a bender.” Y/n spoke smugly. 

“Really? He shouldn’t, it’d be a waste of time.” The boy replied as she pouted in response. “I hope you know that I had to tell Uncle to make sure you would stay during the travel to Full Moon Bay. Don’t make me regret asking him.”

Y/n smiled. So, that was why Iroh brought up her leaving? She was kind of confused on why he would mention it if he wanted her to stay, but not it make sense. His approach was wrong, but it made sense. 

“So what I’m hearing is... you’d miss me if I left?”

Zuko just groaned out and sped up his pace, leaving her behind as their group came into view. For the rest of the night, the random cluster of six talked and joked around, the anger no longer being apparent between each teen. 

It was finally back to the way it used to be; only ten times better. 

___

There’s something so fulfilling abt writing a long chapter, I love it

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Masterlist

Taglist: @bucky-blogs @hopefuloperaangelnerd @simplyfandomish @oddlypointlessescapes @lozzybowe @woohoney @whalerus @cece-lives-here @bwndito @kiaoizz

[august-anon]

Tickletober Day 3 - Stocks [LATE]

Like I said earlier, I forgot I was a person yesterday and therefore forgot to post lol. Sorry about that! Also, not super proud of this one. It's one of my least favorite days out of all of them (not a huge fan of stocks or feet tickles), so I'm not super into it, but hopefully you guys get more enjoyment out of it than I did! I think I also forgot to edit this but it's whatever lol.

Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender 

Ship(s): platonic Gaang

Characters (lee/ler): Lee!Aang, Ler!Sokka, Katara, Toph, Zuko

Word Count: 1151 words

Summary: What else is Aang supposed to do when he finds a set of stocks in an abandoned town? NOT see if he could fit in them?

[ao3 link]

-----------------------------------

It wasn’t uncommon for them to come across abandoned towns on their travels.

Some had just been too small to hold on, the inhabitants moving into cities to have better access to supplies. Some were ages old, the cause of their abandonment long lost to history. And, unfortunately, some had been razed to the ground thanks to the war.

Thankfully for them, the town they’d come across this time was one seemingly lost to history. The buildings and streets were old and dilapidated, but there were no signs of destruction or war. It gave them enough peace of mind for them to actually feel safe spending the night there, rather than continuing on to sleep somewhere in the wilderness.

This also, of course, meant a lot of exploring was to be done.

For the most part, the group of them didn’t find many interesting things. Katara found a pretty old hair comb. Toph sensed an advanced underground sewer system, despite the age of the town. Sokka found a few old swords, but they were far too rusty for use. Zuko didn’t seem too keen on exploring, sticking near Sokka.

Aang was certain he’d found the most interesting thing.

It was a weird, wooden chair in the town square, leg posts built deep into the ground so it couldn’t be moved. It had a wooden board at the base of it with two holes: a set of stocks. At the other end was a wooden pole sticking straight up in the air, presumably for a backrest. Behind that, was another set of smaller stocks facing toward the ground, presumably for someone’s arms.

What else was Aang supposed to do but sit in it?

He was barely tall enough to lean up against the back pole while still being able to stick his feet through the stocks at the base of it. Aang stuck his tongue out as he wriggled his arms behind him, feeling around for the arm holes and sticking his hands through them. Just like the last time Aang had found himself in a set of stocks, everything was far too big for him: he could slip right out if he wanted to.

“Aang?” Katara called from down the road. “What are you doing?”

“Getting arrested,” Aang replied calmly.

“What?!”

So fast it was almost comical, the rest of the group gathered in the square around Aang. Toph had been laughing the whole way over, having already been able to sense what Aang was up to before she got there. Sokka was clearly amused, as well, while Katara and Zuko just looked confused.

“You know what?” Sokka eventually said. “This is giving me flashbacks to Avatar Day.”

Zuko and Toph’s faces scrunched up in confusion.

“What’s Avatar Day?” Toph asked.

Sokka shrugged. “Long story short, Aang got arrested for something one of his past lives did.” He paused. “You know, I never did get you back for messing up your defense so bad. And after all the hard work I did!”

Aang’s jaw dropped. “How was I supposed to remember all that?!”

Sokka darted forward and squeezed his knee, making Aang squeal. “Katara and I remembered it!”

“Wait, Sokka, no--!”

Aang didn’t bother fighting off his giggles as Sokka’s hands formed into claws and latched onto his knees, squeezing away. He bounced his legs to appeal to the part of his brain that wanted to squirm, making the stocks his ankles were stuck through shake, but he didn’t pull away. They’d all been so busy and stressed out lately, they hadn’t messed around like the kids they were meant to be in a while, and Aang was gonna take advantage of it where he could.

“You know what?” Katara said. “Sokka’s right. We deserve revenge for all that trouble.”

“Katara--” Aang squeaked, squirming as she drew closer to his upper body.

Once her fingers started scribbling on his sides, he was laughing too hard to even get out his false protests anymore. Aang had always been ridiculously ticklish, and it wasn’t a fact he worked particularly hard to hide or deny. Probably the only one who could rival him in ticklishness was Zuko, but he was hard to catch off-guard enough to tickle, so Aang was usually the group’s favorite.

Not that he particularly minded. It was fun to play around with his friends, after all.

Aang almost went back on all of that when Toph’s ruthless fingers began attacking his feet. Just like the rest of her, her fingers were rough and calloused from all her earthbending and scratched at his feet in the worst (best?) of ways.

“What did I do to you?” Aang managed to wheeze out before all his breath was lost to laughter once more.

Through his squinted, teary eyes, he saw Toph shrug.

“I dunno, I just felt like it.” She looked back toward Zuko. “Come on, Sparky, get in on this.”

Zuko looked lost for a minute, hands hovering awkwardly in the air as he stood a few feet away. “I don’t--”

“Oh, lighten up,” Toph said. “Look, he likes it. He can get out of the stocks whenever he wants.”

As if to help her prove her point, Toph hit the spot underneath his toes that made him jerk away every time. Aang swiped his foot back, slipping easily through the hole in the stocks, and tried to rub away the tickly feeling on his opposite leg. Sokka squeezed that knee and made Aang shriek and stuff his leg back through the hole as he kicked out.

“Here,” Sokka said. “You take over here, I’ll get his armpits.”

Without waiting for a response, Sokka dragged Zuko over and positioned him where Aang’s knees were. Sokka himself made his way up to the top of the contraption Aang had stuck himself into and grabbed one of his arms, slipping it out of it’s “restraint” easily, showing once more that Aang was staying where he was of his own free will. He lifted Aang’s arm up and pinned it up above his head, burying his hand into Aang’s armpit. At Aang’s shrill squeal from that, Zuko finally started squeezing away at his knees, though a lot more hesitantly than Sokka had been.

The four of them tickled Aang until his laughter had gone silent, quickly backing off at the lack of noise. Aang quickly pulled all of his limbs out of the too-large holes of the stocks and curled up, accidentally toppling off the seat of the device in the process. Sokka laughed at him as he giggled on the ground.

“You alright?” Katara asked affectionately, reaching down to help him up.

“I’m great,” Aang said.

Once Aang had recovered, the group of them went back to searching for a place in the old town to spend the night, but Aang couldn’t help but notice that everyone seemed more relaxed as they moved on.

[gloves94]

Sunburn [Prince Zuko] 6

Warnings: None   Rating: PG-13   Pairings: Zuko/OC   Summary:  “You have everything you’ve ever wanted.” “No.” He said softly. “Not everything…”  His golden eyes looked at her with a melting intensity she had never witnessed before. “I guess not.” She responded with glassy eyes as tears welled up threatening to break the dam of her eyes.

My fanfiction: M A S T E R L I S T

'Phew, that had been a close one,' Tsai thought exhausted as she returned to the ship.

She had returned to meet Admiral Zhao in record time. It appeared he didn't suspect a thing. Perhaps it was the wine? He talked about his glory and how he expected to send a fill written transcript of his Avatar capture speech to the Fire Lord himself tomorrow. It was when he got too close for comfort that she prayed somebody would interrupt and her prayers were answered.

"Admiral Zhao!" A soldier sprinted into the room. "It's the Avatar!" He shouted in an alarmed tone.

xxx

She took advantage of this distraction and hauled her ass back to the ship. Exhausted, praying that the Avatar had made it out and that she had made the right call in trusting the Blue Spirit.

xxx

A couple of days later Iroh, Prince Zuko and Tsai sat before a tea table in Iroh's room. Zuko had been behaving extremely weird since the night that Tsai had gone away to rescue the Avatar. She wondered if he knew- if he suspected of her, but there was no way in hell he would've known. She had been fast. Subtle too having even made it to the music night to hear Iroh play the trombone and listen to the Lieutenant's love song.

There was absolutely no way he knew.

The three currently sat in the upper deck dinning chamber. The private room which the three shared their meals. It was decorated with two long fire nation banners on the walls, several candles and a figure of a red dragon's head under the horizontal window on the wall.

Tsai figured even Iroh had noticed the prince's off behavior.

"See Prince Zuko, a moment of quiet is good for your mental well-being," Iroh said after taking a most well enjoyed sip of ginseng tea. Tsai simply smiled at the older man and turned to pour some tea on the prince's cup. She watched him with a curious expression as he took a sip of it. However he stopped before and looked at her with suspicion. A nervous smile carved her face as she made eye contact with him. At the same time the ship was suddenly jerked causing the tea to slosh out of the cup and soak all of the prince's face and hair.

Tsai failed to hold in her laughter and laughed loudly. Zuko growled out in frustration and she could swear she could see the tea evaporating from his forehead. 'Now what?' He leapt to his feet and stomped out of the room into the main deck, the other two followed.

"Woah!" the girl starred in awe at a large beast that had just boarded the ship. A young dark haired woman rode the mighty beast to the deck.

"Get back!" She barked at the crew of fire benders that were ready to attack. "We're after a stowaway," she explained cutting to the chase.

"There are no stowaways on my ship. None besides this one," he added the last part in a lower tone and glared at the auburn haired girl. "Hey!" She protested crossing her arms over her chest.

It took that creature a second to rip the floor of the deck and sniffing loudly stuck its head inside the hole. To everyone's surprise an injured man climbed out of the hole and ran for his life. The beast opened its mouth and whipped its tongue striking the stowaway. The man then collapsed frozen stuff with a horrified expression on his face.

"He's paralyzed," Zuko muttered shocked.

"It's only temporary," The woman stated as she effortlessly hauled the stowaway over her shoulder. "The toxins will wear off in about an hour," she explained. "But by then, he'll be in jail and I'll have my money." She walked over to the beast her hips swaying slightly as she tossed the man onto the beasts back cooly.

"It's a shirshu, isn't is?" Tsai suddenly spoke, her eyebrows arched in surprise. "I've read about them, never seen one in person. Hard to come by in the wilderness. Even harder tamed. Must've cost a pretty penny," she mused tapping on her cheek in surprise. Zuko looked at him with his eyes narrowed. "What? I've read every encyclopedia in the library. I know a thing or two," she shrugged.

"Well, I'm impressed," Iroh stated as the three watched the woman crack her whip and bolt off the ship racing down the docks to the jail. Tsai almost ran to the edge of the rail and leaned against it. She didn't know if Iroh was impressed by the beast or by the woman.

"She's so cool," Tsai blurted in awe. "Very impressed," Iroh said with a nasty smirk as he stroked his beard thoughtfully.

Zuko flashed both of them a disturbed look, the one he gave his uncle was borderline one of disgust.

"Are you two thinking what I'm thinking?" She turned to look at the two fire benders standing next to her excited. "She's just what we need!" The girl exclaimed slapping her fist against her open palm.

"Ho!" Iroh let out a lecherous laugh which showed that they were both clearly not thinking the same thing. The other two ignored this.

"She can help us track the Avatar! Only problem is, we don't have anything that smells like him," she finished dead beat. Zuko was silent for a moment.

"I might have something."

xxx

"Why are you even coming with?" Zuko commented at Tsai's presence as they docked the ship and prepared to go look for the mysterious woman. "I can be of help," she chirped. "You'll only get in the way if there's a confrontation," he spat. His tone remained firm but his eyes darted to read her expression. He was becoming desperate to learn her secret, what she was capable off.

He still couldn't believe that this dork had been the same person to threaten to turn him into mush the other night. He looked at her eyes right now, it was quite the contrast compared to the apathetic irises that he had seen the other night. He was baiting her, hoping she would reval what dangerous skills she possessed. Instead she scoffed before a grin grew across her features.

"You're cute when you're worried" She poked his face childishly.

He swatted her hand away annoyed.

Why was she hiding her skills? This made him wonder if she was hiding anything else. What were her true motives?

He recalled the scars of conflicts on the walls of the hallway. The deep slashes that scarred the walls of the compound. The blood. The helmets lamely rolling around the floor and she had done all of it without a weapon or a single scratch on her.

How on Earth had she done it? He had seen her hands before. They were scarless, soft looking and always perfectly polished with dark varnish.

"No," the other snapped. "I don't want you to compromise the mission," he retorted.

Some moments later after poking around asking questions in local markets and temples the trio headed to the seediest looking tavern off the docks of the Mo Ce Sea where it was rumored that the bounty hunter usually lounged.

"Out of my way!" The prince barked already annoyed as he parted a sea of people out of his way, "Step aside, filth!"

"He means no offense!" Iroh apologized to the thugs in the room sheepishly. "I am certain you bathe regularly."

The stench made his statement doubtful. They crossed the dark pub until reaching a table at the end where the dark haired woman was arm-wrestling a man that appeared to be twice her size.

Tsai tried to play it cool, yet failed and squeaked out a fangirling "She's so cool!" She turned her embarrassed face away to hide her growing blush. Zuko rolled his eyes at this. "I need to talk to you!" The banished prince stated loudly, his narrowed eyes glared at the woman.

"Well, if it isn't my new friends, Angry Boy and Uncle Lazy," she commented as she eyed the odd trio. 'Do I get a nickname?' The girl didn't realized she had actually said that out loud. "Oh hon," she shook her head slightly. "You are way to pretty for him," she scoffed at Zuko. "I'd run if I were you."

'She thinks I'm pretty,' the other swooned with a dumb fan girl expression on her face.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Zuko shouted glaring. Iroh couldn't help but chuckle. Way too distracted by the compliment Tsai ignored this interaction.

She did all this while engaged in an arm wrestling game. It was then that she slammed the large man's monstrous hand down against the table. The crowds cheered, money was tossed on the table.

'So cool!'

Once again- Tsai missed part of the conversation.

"Name's June," she introduced herself. Snapping the colonial girl out of her thoughts.

"I need you to find someone," Zuko said as they made their way outside the stinking pub. It was then that he pulled up a woman's necklace. More specifically a water tribe necklace. One of the ones water benders customary use to propose in their tribes.

"What happened," June drawled out, her voice dropping with sarcasm as she leaned against her shirshu with her arms crossed over her chest. "Your ex-girlfriend run off on you?"

"It's not the girl I'm after," Zuko responded cooly. "It's the bald monk she's traveling with."

"Whatever you say," June shrugged.

Moments later they were heading out of the tavern.

"You got it!" Iroh laughed merrily. It sounded as if a deal had just been made.

"Get on!" June instructed as she grabbed the necklace from Zuko once outside as they stood around the shirshu. Tsai had never seen Iroh move so fast as he eagerly climbed in a spot in the saddle where he would get to sit behind June. He turned to look at the two teenagers expectantly.

"We have to stop by my ship first. She'll only get in the way," Zuko said referring to his uncle's guest. "No I won't!" She protested childishly.

"Can't do that Angry Boy," June drawled out clicking her tongue. "Once Nyla has the scent, she has to follow it. There are no pit-stops." She explained. "Now get on!"

Zuko climbed on and sat behind his Uncle. With no choice Tsai sat behind him.

Nyla was practically salivating at the human scent of the necklace. "Hold on tight!" June warned before cracking her whip. With a single crack the beast lunged forward as the hunt began.

"Woah!" Tsai instinctively wrapper her arms around the prince holding on tightly. "Tsai! Get your hands off me!" He protested. The feeling of her body being pressed against his, her arms around his chest made him feel uncomfortably hot. "I'm going to fall off!" Her grip around him tightened. "See? This is what I meant when I said you'd get in the way!" The other shot back as the two bickered back and forth.

June rolled her eyes. People screamed and fled in panic as the giant beastly shirshu leapt over their homes buildings, from roof to roof racing through the village. It was almost like riding a rollercoaster. Tsai yelped when Nyla suddenly came to a jerking stop almost falling off the saddle, she tightened her grip around the prince and his hand gripped her arm tightly. She wouldn't be surprised if he was asphyxiating. It was then that they suddenly came to a halt outside of temple with warm hues. Outside of it stood an older woman with a calm expression on her features. It was almost as if she had been expecting them.

"Why are we stopping?" Zuko demanded in annoyance. "She must've spent a lot of time here," June explained flatly. "We have no time for this!" he snapped impatiently.

The older woman that was standing outside suddenly approached the shirshu and addressed Iroh with a hand on her hips. She wore ochre colored robes which were the same color to the ones Tsai usually wore. She wore a golden crown with a circular symbol at the center.

"Care to hear your fortune, handsome?" She offered in a flirtatious tone and the man smiled down at her. "At my age, there's only one big surprise left," Iroh replied serenely with a smile, "And I'd just as soon leave it mysterious."

Feeling nauseous Tsai sighed and buried her green face on the prince's shoulder. He immediately stiffened and was about to complain when the lady turned to them.

"What about you two love doves? Care to know the gender of your firstborn? The answer might surprise you." She offered gently with a small smile.

Zuko quickly released his grip from Tsai's arm as if it had burned him. He hadn't realized he was still holding on. The girl's arms were still wrapped around his torso. However her grip was now weaker and looser. "For the last time!" Zuko roared with all of his might his face burning a bright shade of red. "She is NOT my girlfriend!" He roared so loud that a flock of birds in a nearby stormed away. He said it so loud and with so much rage that Tsai wouldn't have been surprised if the people in the Southern Water Tribe had heard him. She managed to utter a zombie like groan.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she moaned out sickly feeling the nausea creeping on her.

Some time later after several ups and downs of searching for the damn Avatar Nyla stopped at the nunnery Abbey. It was then that the perfume stench became too powerful.

"I'm going to throw up," she uttered.

"That's it. Off the beast!" Zuko ordered but she had already beat him to the punch sliding off Nyla.

"Tsai!" Iroh asked concerned.

"I-I don't feel well," she said attempting to swallow up the vomit that was creeping up her throat. "Just come back for me later. I'll be waiting right here," she sighed as she leaned against one of the pale yellow walls of the abbey and slid down it to her bottom.

"See! This is what I meant when I said you'd get in the way!" Zuko exclaimed.

"Next time you try riding in the back of a shirshu!" She shot back.

"Alright, enough flirting you too. We've got an Avatar to catch!" June cracked her whip. And just like that we were off.

Some moments later Tsai was leaning over a bush in one of the edges of the Abbey puking her guts out. "Last... Time... I ride a..." She gurgled violently. "A shirshu."

The nuns were more than kind. They offered some water and stale bread and offered her a seat under a shaded bench. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. It was almost peaceful and those lovely perfume scents. She looked up at the skies and wondered if it would be nightfall by the time the group returned back for her.

It was then that the nun she identified as the superior one entered the abbey with a young boy that had a blue arrow tattooed down his forehead.

'Huh, well I'll be damned,' she let out a low whistle. 'Damn Avatar literally just strolled in.'

Part of her wondered if she was hallucinating. Their eyes met and Aang's went wide. Fast as the wind he was standing in front of her before she could even react. Maybe the rumors were true and he really was as fast as the wind.

"It's you!" He exclaimed.

Aang looked at her carefully. It had definitely been the lady in disguise that had rescued him from that night when he had been captured by Admiral Zhao. The night of the Blue Spirit.

"You rescued me!"

Instead of wearing the dark make up from that night, her eyes were made up with a light brown eyeshadow. Lips a shade of peony pink, except her skin was paler than it had been that night. Aang thought she looked unwell, almost sick.

"It's me," she mused with a lazy smile. "I-I don't even know your name!" He spoke rapidly. "Thank you," he bowed down slightly out of respect.

"Avatar," She spoke after a moment unsure of how to address him.

The gears in her head turned slowly as she processed what she could do. Could she fight the Avatar down? Tie him up somehow and wait for Zuko to get back? She wondered if she could persuade him to come with them peacefully? Or maybe- just maybe he could help her...

"I believe all citizens of the Fire Nation should be treated equally." She smiled after a moment. "Fire and earth benders as well as non benders."

"Fire Nation?" His eyebrows went up in surprise his body leaned back as he his gut instinct suddenly  warned him that this person was dangerous. It was Tsai's turn to take a bow before him. "Which is why I with the most respect have to ask you to come with me."

Aang was shocked. He was about to speak when the wooden door to the abbey was suddenly wrecked as Nyla stormed in with Iroh, Zuko and two prisoners.

"There he is!" Zuko exclaimed pointing a finger at the airbender. Nyla charged forward ready to strike. The Avatar using a glider of sorts leapt up into the air and began flying in sharp circles. Tsai continued calmly sipping on her water witnessing the madness unfold. She knew this wasn't her fight.

She had already done what she could. Now it was up to Zuko to capture him.

Nyla charged toward the Avatar when a massive Flying Bison tackled it down. Two of the nuns suddenly dragged two bodies to rest next to where she was sitting.

"Sup," she retorted casually still sipping her beverage. The two wore Water Tribes robes, had dark hair, dark skin and brown hair with striking blue eyes. The two flashed her an odd look. A battle unfolded between Zuko and the Avatar and there was a massive explosion in which both flew up to opposite rooftops. June had been hit and lay unconscious on the floor before Iroh patted her face awake and she rose up to the occasion and fought. Iroh stood there feeling rather pleased with himself.

"Oh, there you are Tsai. Feeling better?" he asked casually. As if a massive fight wasn't unfolding before them. The girl looked at the prince who looked like he was really struggling. Then again, it was him, June and Nyla against the Avatar. She assumed they would be able to carry their own weight in this fight. "Should we do something?" She asked not removing her eyes from the fighting prince. Iroh looked pensive for a moment. "Actually-" he began. "let's go smell some perfumes," he said with a slight smile.

Iroh and Tsai stood on the sidelines as they critiqued, tried and smelt some of the exquisite perfumes that the abbey produced. "Hint of freesia, I like this one," she said sniffing a small white bottle. Iroh held a bottle he liked himself. Both made a sly eye contact sharing the same thought before hiding the bottle inside of their sleeves and laughing.

The fight continued. When suddenly barrels of perfume were poured all over the abbey. One of the prisoners that Zuko had brought with the group on top of Nyla, the girl wearing the Water Tribe clothes was a water bender. She bended the water and made it rain a powerful stench of perfume which clogged Nyla's nose.

  "The Shirshu! It's been blinded!"

Nyla went off the hook. It's whipped tongue suddenly snapped and accidentally struck Prince Zuko who collapsed with a gasp of surprise.

June jumped from the saddle in an attempt to soothe her creature which failed and in a swing of its head the shirshu lashed out at its master and struck her before fleeing into the wilderness.

"June! No!" Iroh cried out dramatically as he hurried forward to catch the paralyzed woman in his arms, both of the collapsing to the ground. Tsai raised an eyebrow 'Really?' The edge of her eye twitched.

From across the abbey she saw the Avatar embrace his teammates. He looked at her from a distance and their eyes once again met. It was then that Aang realized that she was with them. She was a part of the Fire Nation. She was the enemy. She weighted her options. What was right and what was wrong. Should she attempt to go after them?

She stood back and nodded her head down, slightest of smiles on her face. He did not return it.   And just like that, the Avatar escaped once again.

This time Tsai approached the paralyzed prince, his uncle and the bounty hunter.

"Uncle?" Zuko muttered looking at his uncle who was lying next to him with June lying on top of him, "I didn't see you get hit with the tongue."

"Shhh.... Iroh shushed him, putting his finger to his lips before putting his hand back down and reclosing his eyes with a smile of pure bliss on his face.

June's eyes snapped open as glared at Iroh angrily.

"Well, well, well, looks like this time I'm the one with the upper hand," Tsai teased both hands on her hips. "I wonder if I should go take a stroll in the park or get some help?" She laughed.

xxxxx

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CHAPTER MASTERLIST

[beckytailweaver]

Avatar: The Last Airbender (fic stuff)

Since I’m trying to work on something (ANYTHING!) and I seem to be in an Avatar mood of late, I’ll throw this up here.

These are fics, potential fics, and mostly-concrete ideas that have existed in the back of my closet for a very long time, since the good old days of watching ATLA when it was shiny and new and cool. Most of them are also so old that LOK didn’t exist yet or was in its infancy.

Note: These are mostly gen fic. If pairings come up they are not the central goal of the piece; they will be mainly canon as it existed at the time the fic was outlined. Treat them like the scenery (no ship war drama allowed in my workroom, that’s what stopped me participating in the fandom years ago).

I’d kinda like to put some feelers out and see what folks think would be most interesting to work on.

Read on:

The End of the Circle Post-canon continuation, my oldest ATLA fic, conceived and outlined before comics or LOK existed. Does some headcanon worldbuilding based on what was available at the time of the original series. Dragons and spirits and legends coming to life, oh my!

Status: outlined, some scenes written, firm endpoint, world built.

Summary: Roku warned Aang that he could not die in the Avatar State, or the cycle would end. Azula’s lightning killed Aang in the Avatar State. To their good fortune, Katara’s spirit water was able to bring Aang back to life, but there are Consequences—for the Avatar and for the world.

Wild Fire Canon AU/semi-rewrite. Also born before LOK was a thing so Druk doesn’t exist. It borrows some concepts from the idea of Toph and her badgermole family. It breaks some TLA canon around the edges but it’s all in good fun.

Status: outlined, many scenes, ending fully plotted.

Summary: The young Fire Prince was burned and disowned by the Fire Lord, cast away and abandoned on the hostile shores of the Earth Kingdom before his kindly uncle could aid him. Disfigured, angry, and lost, young Zuko finds solace in the wilderness when he is taken in by a most unusual protector: A dragon.

Phoenix Legacy Not-a-time-travel “time travel” fic. It was born after seeing Season 1 of Avatar LOK and...kinda liking it but not? (I mostly lost interest in LOK after S1.) And wanting to add some more classic feel to the season. No information from subsequent seasons was used to outline it (thus there is no Druk) but recently I have gone back and “fixed” Zuko’s daughter (giving her the correct name and appearance), and added her nameless daughter (Iroh II’s sister) for lulz. Basically a rewrite of LOK Season 1 with a TLA character along for the ride to shake everything up, because at the time I was disappointed that there was only Katara and no other Gaang members out there kicking the new Avatar into shape.

Status: outlined, a few scenes written, ending plotted; not to be a rehash.

Summary: A phoenix cannot die by fire—it can only be reborn. When Ozai claimed the title of Phoenix King, he had no idea what sort of spirit he might be invoking. When he lost his ancestor’s war and his crown, the spirit’s blessings were unknowingly conferred upon his heir: The hapless Fire Lord Zuko, determined to bring his nation to peace. Seventy years later, there’s a tragic explosion in a tea shop in Republic City, and exiled traitor Fire Prince Zuko wakes up to an unfamiliar world full of unfamiliar faces. The last thing he remembers is an Agni Kai under a Comet, catching lightning to protect a friend.

The Prince’s Prisoner Another ficling born before the comics or LOK were really a big deal and/or I didn’t know about them. Basically during TLA S1, rather than fleeing Prince Zuko’s clutches, Aang decides to remain his prisoner. The original reasoning for this was a kind of modified Peggy Sue: Aang effed up his final battle with Ozai for reasons, his soul is sorta sent back in time to do-over from his iceberg wakeup. The problem is that this is not a perfect process and he doesn’t actually remember everything, only some very important faces, feelings, and concepts. The idea of Zuko as a dear friend/teacher/trusted person is one of these things. Thus, in defiance of all visible logic, Aang trusts S1!Zuko with his life and keeps his promise to go with him. In spite of his Water Tribe friends continuously trying to rescue him, Zhao continuously trying to capture him, and Zuko himself continuously trying to avoid being befriended by his ticket home. (”I’m your prisoner, not anyone else’s.”)  Intended to be a funny and heartwarming friendship/journey story taking a different angle at the series.

Status: tentatively outlined with very few scenes skeleton’d out, season 1 definite, endpoint undecided but can continue throughout the series. The premise mechanic is a bit flimsy; it’s less concrete since it’s supposed to be fluff, angst, and friendship.

dragon!Zuko AU fic Everybody has to write one of these, it’s like a law. Here’s mine: Ozai’s cruelty during the Agni Kai with his young son invoked the wrath of Agni, bringing down a magic from a time before memory and no one knows if it’s a blessing or a curse. When Zuko’s face burned, the fire didn’t stop there, and when the flames went out a young dragon was left on the floor of the arena. Uncle Iroh came to his rescue before the rest of Court could gather their wits, and then had to get him on a boat and out of the Fire Nation before Ozai could decide whether to make him into a pet or a trophy. Part 1: Rather than going on a mission to hunt the Avatar, Zuko and Iroh are on a road trip to keep Zuko alive and secret from the world (Ozai wants to usurp his brother’s title of Dragon). Iroh and his crew end up raising this stubborn angsty dragon prince; since he can’t turn back into a human he has to come to terms with being a dragon most of the time (which can’t talk), and he can often be Very Dramatic about it. Part 2: Years later, there’s rumors of the Avatar’s return and Zuko (who has sort of learned to take a human shape again) sees an opportunity to spare his own life and go home by offering his father a bigger prize than a dragon’s head...

Status: very general outline, some scenes conceived and a general plot/endpoint. Part 1 is in the 3 years pre-canon, Part 2 is during canon, including the grumpy dragon hiding out in Ba Sing Se.

Years Gone/Avatar kids AU S1/pre-canon rewrite. Some whim of fate cracks open Aang’s iceberg three years early (a storm, a passing boat, pure chance?) and he tumbles out into the world in the same year that Prince Zuko was banished. Despite befriending some Water Tribe children who would love to go adventuring with him, he’s got to get home to the Southern Air Temple and that’s where he runs into young, angry, raw-wounded Prince Zuko on his first visit. The tiny chase ensues up and down the entire temple. Aang will of course be friendly but escape. And this begins a probably-ill-advised adventure with a lot of kids who are entirely too young to be camping across the world on a bison (but it’s exciting!), chased by another kid entirely too young to be leading a manhunt. The Comet is three years away so there’s plenty of time for adults to tear their hair out over this. Zuko is a tiny ball of determination, rage, and tears. Aang feels bad for him and tries to make with the befriending even as he’s dodging the fire tantrums. Occasionally during adventures Zuko just gets scooped along for the ride in Appa’s saddle, no one’s sure how these weird truces get called, but Iroh sips tea and directs the crew on a new heading and they’ll pick up their prince at the bison’s next stopover most likely after the kid pendulums back the other way and remembers he’s trying to nab the Avatar again. So Zuko spends 50% of the time yelling and chasing the Avatar and 50% of the time sitting in Appa’s saddle learning tentative smiles and being offered berries and seal jerky, all the way from the South Pole to the North. (It’s slightly terrifying to realize that Aang and Zuko are currently the oldest kids in the party and are actually in charge of this terribly irresponsible expedition.)

Status: general outline, a couple of scenes written, particular S1 plot points, no endpoint yet. Possible bonus content: Toph and/or Suki come along for the ride because why not.

The Blacksmith of Ba Sing Se This is a very old Lu Ten Lives! story. Lu Ten always knew Uncle Ozai envied him, but secure in his position he didn’t really care about it until he took an arrow in the back during the final battle of the Siege of Ba Sing Se. With unknown assassins among his own ranks and no safe place to retreat in the melee, the wounded prince decides to fake his own death by hiding in the rubble, and then swapping clothes with a slain Earth Kingdom soldier half crushed in the ruin. At first, it’s only to get to safety until he can get to the bottom of this. But Lu Ten is picked up by the EK medic teams after the surprising withdrawal of the Fire Nation troops, and ends up spirited away into the heart of Ba Sing Se—where he discovers that it’s hard to escape. He also discovers a whole new world, and a whole new perspective, and, keeping out of the authorities’ notice, eventually manages to make a life for himself as Chang the Blacksmith, a humble craftsman with a wife and kids. This...is much nicer than war, death, and Court politics. Years later: refugee Zuko walking home from his job at Pao Family Tea Shop runs across a little boy crying over his broken toy in the dusty street...

Status: nebulous outline with a few particular sketched scenes. Takes place mostly in Ba Sing Se, outcome indeterminate. It could be mixed with the Lineages concept from below.

Lineages / not Ozai’s kid AU Not really a concrete plot so much as a campy idea from long before the Avatar comics blundered through Ursa’s backstory. There was a phase in the fandom (I think the Search comics drew off of that) where it was popular to imagine almost anyone else than Ozai as Zuko’s Secret Real Dad (the boy deserves a better father) and Iroh was often selected as primary candidate. (I know, Iroh is already the real dad and stepped into Ozai’s cold empty shoes like a pro.) Me, deciding that I had to be different, decided to offer up Lu Ten on that altar. Justifications: Iroh and Ozai looked to have a pretty extreme age difference and there was no solid age for Lu Ten at the time of his death, but his picture looks mature enough. Deals with family secrets and the political issues of muddying the lines of inheritance in the middle of a war. Also takes a crack at Ursa having a clever hand with Azulon’s last will and testament on Ozai’s behalf, with provisos.

Status: nothing really more than a vague concept without enough plot to stand on its own. Without a viable framework, it could work better/well folded into The Blacksmith story, above.

I’m open to opinions and/or asks about these. Trying to get a spark going! (I need to be working in a fandom, ANY fandom at this point! ^_^;; )

[zukos-tsungi-horn]

Sweat and Ginseng

Summary:   Adjusting to the city of walls and secrets isn't easy. Neither is working his first minimum wage job. Some problems include nightmares, cursed aprons, impatient customers, and definitely-not-dancing. Drabble/ficlet series of Zuko's time at Pao's tea shop and the moments in between.  Rated T for Zuko’s past trauma and some shady people in the Lower Ring.  Genfic

Chapter 1: Loud // read on AO3

XXX

Night has never been so loud.

The crash of the sea against his ship, the song of pistons and steam hissing beneath the floor, were a melody he never thought he’d miss.  Layers of metal walls dampened his crew’s snores, the remaining echoes becoming white noise, a rising and falling tide.  No other sounds could reach him on his personal floating prison—but eventually prison was almost home and then too soon it was gone, flotsam and jetsam scattered by a different too-loud night.

Even the wilderness hadn’t been this loud.  The chirping rounds of lady-crickets and hooting of owlcats tickled in his good ear, but then the ostrich-horse (not his, never his) would curl up against his back.  Her gentle breaths would soothe him until their lungs were in synch, until he could ignore the sounds (and bites) of bugs humming in the cool air, until his eyes gave up staring at the unfamiliar stars.

The ostrich horse is gone.  His ship is gone. Uncle is here, Uncle who he never seems to miss until it’s too late—but he’s here now and Zuko should be glad except his snoring is also loud.

The room they now share is barely that—a room, with two futons (even flatter than the one in his old cabin), a chipped tea set, a vase of flowers Uncle had to buy sitting in the windowsill.  The orange petals and green leaves have already begun to wilt in the sliver of moonlight, or maybe they’re trying to hide from the noisy street too.  Isn’t there supposed to be a curfew?  If there is, it doesn’t stop the stone train from screeching along the track above their building, doesn’t stop men from calling drunkenly out to each other below, and it doesn’t stop the pounding footsteps like people are running across the floor above them.  

(Only their apartment is on the highest floor.)

This is only the exterior noise that leaks through the cracked window.  The sounds from inside are much worse.

The room beside them, a couple is fighting.  He hears those raw shouts, those dull thuds; he is old enough now to know what they mean.  It makes his eyes screw shut, especially when he hears glass shatter.  The silence afterwards is the sparking kind, the beat between lightning and thunder.  But no rain drowns out them out when the shouting resumes.

In the opposite room, an infant is crying.  Maybe they can’t sleep through the nearby argument either. He expects a parent to hush the child eventually, but the comforting words never come, even though he is sure he would hear even whispers through the paper-thin walls. Could anyone possibly be so exhausted, so busy, (so heartless) to ignore the wailing of their own child?

(Someone is, someone always was, but he is not in Ba Sing Se.)

The floor beneath them, a crowd is celebrating.  Laughter and strange Earth Kingdom instruments bubble through the ratty carpet.  Some kind of clanging, like tiny high-pitched gongs, maybe a flute too.  These sounds clash with the others, feeling all the more wrong for daring to rejoice where others suffer.  But it is always this way; some are born lucky, others are lucky to be born.  

Zuko would feel lucky if they would all just be quiet.

There is no war in Ba Sing Se.  A lie dully droned by the stern earthbenders who led their ferry into the city.  It feels particularly ironic now, when his apartment feels as loud as any battlefield.

Covering his head with his only pillow, Zuko decides that if there is no war in Ba Sing Se, there certainly isn’t peace either.